Widdershins is a term used by modern witchcraft practitioners to reference ritual movements. It means counter-clockwise, to the left, or opposing the sun. In the Northern Hemisphere, these all reference the same direction.
The Origins of Widdershins
The word widdershins (also withershins, widershins, widerschynnes) comes to us from the Lowland Scotts via Middle Low German widar “against” sinnen “to go/travel”. It means “the wrong way” or “against the grain” as well as referencing an anti-sunwise or counterclockwise motion.
Traditionally, it is bad luck to move widdershins around a building or person while walking deiseal confers good luck and protection.
Walking widdershins around a church is especially unlucky and we have several literary examples to reference. In the fairy tale, Childe Rowland (Joseph Jacobs, English Fairy Tales, 1890) children were transported to fairy lands after running widdershins around a church. Cross Plain tells of a boy who danced widdershins nine times around a faery ring and fell under their control.
Widdershins and the Modern Witch
In modern magick, widdershins is a “backward” direction. Many witches move clockwise or doesil while casting a circle and move from left to right during ritual and spellwork. Widdershins, or counter-clockwise movement is generally reserved for “undoing” or “banishing” actions.
Thus,
This is illustrated in the Wiccan Rede which talks about dancing widdershins during the waning moon, the traditional timing for banishing, binding, and cursing.
Deosil go by the waxing moon, sing and dance the Wiccan rune Widdershins go by the waning moon, chanting out the baleful tune https://www.sacred-texts.com/bos/bos312.htm
